Automobile speed warning device



Aug/7, 1945. L, J. VANKE I 2,381,390

AUQOMOBILE SPEED WARNING DEVICE Filed April 5, 1943 28hets-Sheet 1 LOUIS dosEPH VANKE Aug. 7; 1945. L. J. VANKE AUTOMOBILE SPEED WARNING DEVICE Filed April 5, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 LOUIS JOSEPH VANKE.

miles-per'hour.

' accelerator pedal, arms;

, PatentedAug. 7, 1945 EDT 'PAT ENT' OFFICE f Q 7 7 2381390? I k I 7 t AUTOMOBILE SPEED WARNINGzDEVIGE Y Louis Joseph vanke, Akron, Ohio, assignorto The Firestone "Tire '& Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio 1 v Application April 5, 1943, Serial Nos-481,939

o g-ciai s (o1. "ma-52 Thezprese'nt'inventionirelates to an automobile speed warning "device;

An object ofnthe inventioniis to provide mech-' arnisrnv which may .be' combined with lthG con- 'ventional accelerator pedal and associated apparatus of automobiles "whereby a driver will be warned by i the! resistance against the downward (movement of the accelerator pedal'that'the throt i tle has been opened a previously determined amount while, at'thevsame time, the pedal is operable'inthe usualmanner to progressively open the throttle to its wide-open position.

By reference to.the='drawings,='it will :be seen that the 1 mechanism iconsists isgenerally of". the usual "accelerator pedal with springs associated with the pedaL andarms' actuated' by the pedal in such "manner that "in the initial'iopening iof the gas' feed throttleiand through it opening operation,- upto a predetermined point, "only one -spring is involved,"wh'i1e' at such'ipoi'ntione or more additional springs become involved. v Thus the operator, pressing the pedal downwardly with his fot,'feels the contact of the additional-spring resistanceand knowsatonce that the, throttle has beenopened to the predetermined amount, at which position" the operator can conveniently hold the throttle by resting: the weight. of his. foot on the pedalpagainst' the resistance of the newly involved auxiliary spring or springs. However, 's'hould the-operator "desire to open athe throttle tanner; he simpytpresses his:footr'down on the a'cc'elerator" pedal exactly as he has iibeensin ;the "habit of doing except a definite step-11p of. foot Pressure isre'quired. R It will also berseen that means ar'e provided whereby the degree of opening of the throttle *where 'the auxiliarysprings become involved may be" varied I to such throttle setting as normally-would be required; to edrive *the 'car'f-at; speed'of 'for-'Xample, 25, 135 01"145 @These and other objects and advantages ofixthe invention will --be understood by those familiar the hinge I 2 is attached:

Referringnow1toithe details ofFig. 1 it will be seenthat the invention, in the embodiment there illustrated: comprises an accelerator pedal H3 attached gtoiarfloorboard II by1a-hinge +2. The pedal llliszcomposedzof rubberiin the form of sallayer 95appliedto a; metal reinforcing plate 8. FA hole .51 through plate 8 :permits the said layer-of rubbertto extendto the'opposite'or under side of the pedal and'tobe-formed into a bearing lE l'ofaballiandsocket-jointi .Thepedal and said hearing are moldedrinaonei piece as will be understood by ;those familiar. with the art of molding mechanicalxrub'ber goods. One leafvof to thepedal' by being spot welded to the plate 8 by welding 44, -and the other leaf is attached to thefioor board by :meansotscrews4:5; Arod I3 is-;attachedto'th e under side of saidpedal by means of said ball and socket joint,"theb all iii of saidjoint being formed on .the end :of the-rod l3. The rod [3 passes :through ahole I6 formed: in the floor board'and'j is pivotally connectedtozthefree end ofa 'bell arm H, which armis itself pivotally supported by :aabracket l8-that is attached to .theiunderiside .of ,the floor board H by screws, such as the 1screw43. washer ta-bridges said hole I6 and'forms-a loose fit about the arm l3. A'coil' springzll iscarried-on'said arm l3'bew'tween the bearing l4, and-thewasher 'l 9 and norwith the-artandby reference to the accompanydug-drawings wherein: V v

1' *Fig; *1 7 is a fragmentary side i elevation partly in section showing the" relativevipositionz'of the floorboard; springs, etc., -involiiing the present 7 invention"; shown in ithe jposi'tion they-"occupy -when -the" pedal is ilfil itS upper*position;' I 1 mally is maintained under. compression thereby. Itis toibe notedrthatthespring-20 is -always in operation either in supporting the: pedal II] when :the accelerator :mechanism'is not operative or .in a more compressed condition during the downiliary coil spring assembly .3llis mounted in the floor board Wand projects upwardly therefrom a predetermineddistance. .saidassembly 30 coni-sists ofa cupelike socket member 3|, open ,at its upper end and closedat its lower end, said open .upper end being formed with an outwardly turned flange 39. Q-Saidmember 3! is received in a hole 38 formedsin the-floor board ll, said flange 39 resting upon the upper surface, of said floor board and having screw; holes-which receive screws 31 whereby-the: member 3! is attached to the floor board ofrthe automobile. "The member 3| mas beicomposedof any material found satisfactory,

such .asx-metal, and its. closed end has a center opening 40 which receives inslidable relation,a rod 32. .The rod32; projects downwardly through said -hole:= 40,its projecting end being threaded and having-anut'a33tand a lock=nut 42 threaded thereon-anda washer 34 between the nut. 33 and :,-the memb.er.-13l,.' The rod'32, has an unthreaded ward and upwardtravel ofthe pedal. -An auX- body portion terminating in a head portion 36 which may be either an upset head or a separate head attached to the rod in any manner found satisfactory, as for example, the head and rod may form a ball and socket joint. A coil spring 4| is carried by the'rod 32, the lower end of this spring seating against the bottom of the socket member 3| and the top against the head 36 or against the lowermost of one or more adapter or control washers 35, the washers 35 being mounted on the rod 32. The relationship between springs 2|] and 4| is preferably such that the latter is heavier and has a higher rate, thus requiring the operator to exert greater pressure on the pedal to compress spring 4|, than is re-- quired to compress spring 20.

It will be seen by reference to Fig. 1 that the 4|. by running the nut 33 forward or backward on the rod 32. This movement of the nut 33 will aifect the compression of the spring 4| and accordingly removable washers 35 are provided on the rod 32 between the spring 4| and the head 36.

One. or more of the washers 35 may be added or removed to increase or decrease the amount of compression to which the spring 4| is subjected when the'nut 32 is in any given position.

The operation ofthe above described mechanism is as follows:

When no gasoline is being fed or when the vehicle motor is idling, the pedal l occupies the position in spaced relation to the head 36 illustrated in Fig. 1, the pedal being supported against the spring 20. To increase the feed of gasoline to the carburetor of the vehicle the driver presses the pedal downwardly. As the pedal is pressed downwardly, a throttle in the gasoline feed line is progressively increasingly opened as is commonly understood by those familiar with the art.

As the pressure against the pedal is removed the spring 20 returns the pedal to its upper position as is also commonly understood. Thus there is a definite relation between the position the pedal occupies and the gasoline feed and thereby the speed at which the automobile travels. The practice of the driving public, in the present national emergency, of keeping the speed of their automobiles at thirty-five miles an hour or less,

has presented drivers with a problem principally because they are not accustomed to judging the thirty-five miles an hour speed of their automobiles, and because automobiles, as now constructed, will quickly and easily attain a speed greater than thirty-five miles an hour. Consequently, before the prssent invention, drivers necessarily had to consult the speedometer of their cars in order to approximate the desired speed. In Fig. 1 the head 36 in its upper position is spaced from the pedal H] a distance such that when said pedal, being pressed downwardly by the driver, contacts said head, the throttle of theautomobile will be opened sufficiently to supply the amount of gasoline necessary to drive the car at a predetermined speed as, for example, thirty-five miles an hour. Head 36 thus acts as a stop that yieldingly limits the downward movement of the accelerator pedal against thelight pressure of spring at the maximum speed position in the normal driving range. After the pedal l0 contacts the head 36 any further downward movement of the pedal must also press the said head downwardly which involves the compressing of the heavier spring 4|. This, of course, requires the exerting of substantially greater foot pressure by the driver and he accordingly knows at once that he has exceeded the maximum speed, such as thirty-five miles per hour, at which he should normally'drive the automobile. Of course, it is 'much easier for a driver to judge the speed of his car from a given speed over a narrow range of speed than it is to judge the speed from starting speed to thirtyfive miles per hour. If the driver, after he feels the spring 4| come into action, wishes to feed more gasoline, he simple presses downwardly on the pedal exactly as the pedal has normally been operated before the present mechanism was employed, and in this manner the throttle may be opened to its wide-open position. To close the throttle from a wide open position the operator may gradually lessen the downward pressure on the pedal l0 when the springs26 and 4| will expand, pushing the said pedal upwardly until the head 36 reaches its upper limit when the upward pressure against the pedal is relieved of the force of spring 4| which is readily noticeable by the driver or operaton'and again at this predetermined point the operator knows that he has a ain reached the maximum of normal driving speed.

It.-is important for satisfactory results that the position of the head 36 and the degree of compression on the spring 4| be adjustable. Such adjustment may be made in the assembly shown in Fig. 1 as follows: If it is desired to increase the spacing ofthe head 36 from the pedal It! the nut 33 is run farther on the thread end of the rod 32 until the said head is drawn downwardly to the desired position when the lock nut 42 is used to lock the rod 32 in the selected position. This drawing downwardly of the head 36 increases the compression on the spring 4| and means for controlling such compression is provided in the washers 35, one or more of which may be removed to decrease the compression of ,thespring 4|. It will be understood that the head. 36 may be moved to and retained in position closer to the pedal l0 byreversing the steps just described in reference to moving and retaining said head farther away from the pedal.

A modified form of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 3 wherein a spring50 is completely enclosed with a housing 5|, Said h'ousing consists of an upper and a lower member 52 and 3|a respectively. Lowermember 3|a, like 3| of Fig. 1, is a. hollow flanged cylindical member open at one end a and closed at the. other with the open end terminating in outwardly turned flanges 3911. Member 3 la is received in a hole 38a formed through the floor board ll, said flanges contacting the upper surface of the floor board and having screw holes which receive screws 31a whereby the member 3 a is attached to the floor board as illustrated in the drawings. The member 3 la may be composed of metal, o other suitable material, and its closed end has a center opening 46a therethrough' which receives in slidable relation a rod 320.. The rod 32a projects downwardly through said hole 40a, the projecting end being threaded and having nuts 53 and 54 in threaded relation therewith. A spring 55 and a washer 56 are carried. on the rod 3211 between the nut 53 and the member 3 la. The spring 50 is also carried by the rod 32a within the housing 3| a. The upper member 52 of said housing 5| is a hollow cylindrical member with an open and a closed end with its'open end retained j will 'be'seen by reference to in. *Also that the rod 7 through the o ening 51 a distance and terminates g in a head-portion '58. Also that said rod 32a'is driver of the automobile upon which the mechwithin the lower member 3 la with the walls oftlie said housing members telescoping andin reciproc'ably slidable relation. Said upper member may be composed; of metal or of any other material found satisfactory. The closed end of the member 52 has an opening 51 formedtherethrough. It Fig; 3 that the rod 32a extends longitudinally through the housing 5! and that the spring 50 is completely housed there- 32a projects upwardly 'th'readed' adjacent'said head and for a distance along therod' from head 58. A nut59 is carried by said r'od 32a adjacent to the housing member 52. It will be seen that in this formof the invention/that the coil-spring 50 may have its compression within 7 its "housing adjusted or I changed by tightening or loosening th'enut 53, while the nut'-54 'is'used as alock nut, as will'be readilyunderstood. The spring '55 holds the nut ire-spaced apart from the housing member 3101 while at thesametimethe spring 55'functions as a cushion between the nut 53 and the member'ila. As; 'the'member 3 la is retained in a fixed position in relation-to"the'floor board H it will be seen that the-position of the nut 53 on the rod 32a. controls theposition of the head 58in its spaced relation irom the pedalfll when the pedal-is in its raised position'at which position the gasoline throttle is restricted. It will also be seen'that the nut 59' is a limit stop against which they housing member 52 contacts, said housingmember 52 being'ret'ained in contact with said nut 59 by rthe spring 50. When the rod 32a of the invention beeemesactuated by the pedal l being moved downwardly or'upwardlyincontact with the head 52 -the' housing member 52 moves downwardly or upwardly; as the casemay'be, in its telescoping relation with member! la, and it will be seen that the contacting surfaces of. th'e latter members affords a stable controlguide for the rod 32a. Except for the structural features identified above the form' of the invention illustrated in Fig. 3 is the same a 'that shown inFigrl and in operation the-forms of the invention shown in Figsl and 3 are substantiallythe same. I I

Another 'modifiedform of "the invention is shown in Fig. fl'wherein' an additional spring 60 is associated with the pedal In by means oi-rod 6| pivotally attached to the-topside of said pedal; The pi-votal attachment may consist or a 'bossed portiori' fizfat the end of thep'edal and a pivot pints extending through a hole in thelowerend oi the rodbl' andthe boss 52'. The rod 61 extends upwardly from its attachment to the pedal andiprojects-through ahole 66 formed in a foot 6-5 of a depending arm 66 The depending arm 66 isatt'ache'dati-ts upper end to the dashboard '61 of the automobile by means of a bolt 88 and a; nut 69 -Th'ecoiledspring 60 is mounted on "the rod 61 with itslower end resting against the foot 65;

, Theupperendof the rod 61 is threaded and carries anutZJ-WWh-ich has an-extende'dportion H against which the upper end of the spring Bil} may seat. A lock nut 12 provides means for locking I the-nut ill in a predetermined position on the upper threaded portion of the rod 6 I. It is to be noted by reference to Fig. 4 that when pedal I0 isin its upper position with the gasoline feed throttle restricted, whichis the position illustrated in Fig. that the portion II is spaced a predetermined distance above the top of the spring As the pedal is moved downwardly by a anism embodying the invention is installed; the gasoline throttle is progressively o ened until a certain amount of opening has been reachedat whichpoint'the'extension 1| contacts the spring thereby suddenly requiring additional pressure on the pedal, 10 to continue to open the said throttle. The amount of the opening of the throttle at the time the spring 60 becomes en-' gaged may be such as to normallydrivethe automobile at a rate of thirty-five miles an hourf It will now be obvious from Fig. 4 and the discussion of Fig. 1 that any partial amount of opening of the throttle may be indicated to a driver by selecting'a position for the-"nut IO-on the rod GI and locking said nut in'such position.- I

Another. modified form of the invention is shownin Fig.5 and 6 wherein is shown a spring 80 with lower legs 8| and 82'; upper legs 83 and 8 5, coils 85 and 86, and cross bar 81 joining the ends of upper legs 83 and 84. The lower legs '8l andfl'Z are welded'or otherwise attached to a plate 88,which plate has slots 89 -and Elm Plate '88 is attached to the floor board I I by means-of screws 9! and'BZ. .It is to'be noted that the heads of the'screw's Stand 92 arewider than the: slots 39 and 90 accordingly byloosening up the said screws that the'plate 88 may be slid along the floor board it over a range equal tome-length of the slots $9 3116 99, minus,- oi course-twice the thickness oi-the' screws iust underithe screw heads. It will also beseen byreference to Fig-.6 do t the legs or said springall are" spaced apart so that the. pedal l0 lies between thecoil -ti and 86 andl may pass downwardly between the said legs until' the lower'side'oi the pedal con-. tacts the crossbar 81; The distance the cross 'bar- 81 is below thepedallfi may be changed by loosening the screws 94 and sliding the platoon the floor board'll to a new position and then tightening the. said screws toretain the springflu in fixed positiorr Thus as-in the forms of the invention previously discussed; the pedallfl 'may be actuated overa predetermined distance and at a certain point of movement-it engagesor 'di'sen gag-ca es the case may be, an additional spring resistance wherebya -driver of an automobile-willknow that at that point the throttle controlling the-fesdor-gasdline is open a predetermined amount. I

it is to' be understood that the invention'contemplatcs, if ioundydesirable, the use of succes sivespring involvement'to indicate to the driver,

various stages of opening of the throttle. I

. It will lie-Seen that each fthe 'forms' of the invention affords an improved automobile speed control or speed: warning mechanism; The present typesof automobile speedgovernors now on the market'have'the disadvantage of permitting speeds only up tothe desired safe or'legal maximum driving speed, without-any reservefor 'emergencies'as forexample when a sudden burst of I speed mi 'ght prevent a'collision with movlng automobiles or other moving objects. F'urthermore, the ability to develop added power atti'msf is necessary; as'for example; when theautomobile iscliimbingfahiil; -Under I such conditions the ordinary goveriionthrottlesthe engine to such an extent that it'is necessary in many instances to throw the automobile into second gear for hill climbing. With the present invention; however, when climbing a hill it is only necessary to apply temporarily a much stronger pressure on the accelerator pedal to develop the power necessary for climbing the hill in high gear. Continuing the excessive pressure on the pedal when driving on the level would be impractical as the foot-of; the operator would very soon become fatigued whereupon the operator .will release the pedal, pressure to the lower driving range inwhichonly light resilient reaction to pedal pressure occurs. Even if the operator willfully drives the automobile at excessive speeds he will do so with full knowledge and consciousness, having been warned at the stop provided for maximum light pedal pressure in the normal speed driving range, beyond which it'is necessary for him to apply a much greater pedal pressure.

The invention has been illustrated in connection withseveral embodiments thereof, Other changes and modifications will occurto those familiar with the art, therefore, it is to be understood that the invention; is not limitedto the embodimentsdescribed but only by the prior art and the appended claims. a

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described an accelerator pedal with a ball and socket joint bearing formed of rubber and as, an integral part of said pedal, 3, rod actuated b said pedal and terminating at one end in a ball, said ball being adapted to cooperate with said bearing to joint said rod and pedal by a ball andsocket, a spring continuously associated withv said pedal, said spring being adapted to be compressed when the pedal is pressed downwardly and to move the pedal upwardly when downward pressure on the pedal is removed, anadditional spring normally disconnected from said pedal butadapted to come into indirect association with the pedal when the pedal reaches a predetermined point in its downward travel, said additional spring being acoil spring and retained in position ina housing mounted in a hole through the floor board of an automobile in which the present device is mounted, said housing consisting of lower and upper hollow cylindrical members, each of said cylinders having one open and one closed end, the closed ends having a center hole formed therethrough, the said lower member terminating at its open end in outwardly turned flanges adapted to seat against the top surface of said floor board and to be fastened thereto, said upper member being associated with the lower member in slidable telescoping relation and'being retained in such association by means of a rod extending longitudinally through said housing and said central holes, said rod having a pedal contact head wardly and to move the pedal upwardl when downward pressure on the pedal is removed, an additional spring'normally disconnected from said pedal butadapted to come into indirect association with the pedal when the pedal reaches a predetermined point in its downward travel, said additional spring being retained in position in a housing mounted in a hole through the floor board of an automobile in which the present device ismounted, said housing consisting of lower and upper hollow cylindrical members, each of said cylinders having one open and one closed end, the closed ends having a center hole formed therethrough, the said lower member terminating at its open end in outwardly turned flanges adapted to seat against the top surface of said floor board and to be fastened thereto, said upper member being associated with the lower member in slidable telescoping relation and being retained in such association by means of a rod extending longitudinally through said housing and said central holes and projecting beyond said closed ends, said rod having a pedal contact head portion on the rod end projecting through the central hole of said upper member, said head being below and spaced apart from said pedal, the projecting ends of said .rod being threaded and having nutsthreaded thereon whereby the spacing of said head from the pedal may be adjusted, a cushioning spring mounted on the end of the rod projecting through the closed end of the lower member said cushioning spring being interposed between said lower member, and said nutsthreaded on the end of the rod which projects through the closedend of said lower member,

' 3. In a device of the class described an accelerator pedal, a spring continuously associated with said pedal, an additional spring normally disconnected from said pedal but adapted to come into indirect association with the pedal when the pedal reaches a predetermined point in its downward travel, said additional spring being a coil portion on the rod projecting through the central hole of said upper member, said head being below and spaced apart from said pedaL'said rod .extending longitudinally through said coil spring within said housing, the projecting ends of said rod being threaded and having nuts threaded whereby the spacing of said head from the pedal may be adjusted, as can the compression on the said coil spring, a cushioning spring mounted on said projecting end of said rod, said cushioning spring being interposed between said housing and said nuts.

2. In a device of the class described an accelerator pedal, a spring continuously associated with said pedal, said spring being adapted to be compressed when the pedal is; pressed downspring and retained in position in a housing mounted in a hole through the floor board of an automobilein which the present device is mounted, said housing consisting of lower and upper hollow cylindrical members, said upper member beinglassociated with the lower member in slidable telescoping relation and being retained in such association by means of a rod extending longitudinally through said housing and projecting a distance through and beyond central holes formed in each end thereof, said rod having a pedal contact headportion on the rod projecting through said central hole of said upper member, said head being below-and spaced apart from said pedal, said rod extending longitudinally through said coil spring within said housing, the projecting ends of said rod being threaded and having nuts threaded thereon, a cushioning spring mounted on said end of said rod projecting beyond theend of said lower member, said cushioning spring being interposed between said housing andsaid nuts threaded on the end of the rod projecting through the closed end of said lower member.

LOUIS JOSEPH VANKE. 

